Sometimes Waking Up is Hard to Do
by Dukefan1982
Summary: This story is totally AU a few years after it is removed Booth's brain tumor comes back and this time it takes him a while to wake up
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is completely AU and I don't know where the idea came from…**.

Temperance Brennan walked quietly down the hallway to the room at the end on the left just like she had at least once a day for the last six months.

"Hi doctor Brennan he's having a good day today. We have him sitting up little more so he doesn't get congested again. I put ESPN on the TV."

"Thanks Katie."

"No little one today?"

"No, she was sleeping when I left, I'll bring her by tonight."

"That'll be good. Well I'll let the two of you visit."

"Thanks."

Brennan took a breath and went inside room 2936 of the Georgetown University hospital long term care facility. Walking over to the chair she sat down and picked up Booth's hand. "Hi Booth, just thought I'd come see you after lunch, the fries were cold today. Wednesdays must be their slow day or something. Margie asked how you were doing, I told her you were doing well, that you just need to wake up. Booth Amanda's birthday is next month; Angela's insisting that I have a BBQ party for a two year old! It'd be nice if you'd at least wake up by then. I know if you do you won't be able to attend, but we could have our own party here instead. Booth it's been six months since you had your second tumor removed and had yet another reaction to the anesthetic. The doctors don't know why you're still in a coma, you shouldn't be. Amanda misses you; she's not sleeping through the night anymore. I put the pack n play in our room last night after she woke up at two and wouldn't fall asleep; she dozed in that off and on for the rest of the night. I think you not being home is throwing her off. Parker won't be around for a few weeks, Rebecca is taking him to the Grand Canyon, and they're driving. It will be fun for him though." Brennan told Booth about the case she and Agent Shaw had gotten the day before, the news about the newest batch of interns and anything else she could think of, watching for any sign. Every so often, usually when she brought one of the kids he'd squeeze her hand. Brennan looked at the clock and sighed," Well I need to get back to the lab. I'll bring Amanda by tonight after dinner for a story." Brennan waited for the faint squeeze and after a few seconds she got it."I love you, Booth. Please wake up soon, I miss you." Brennan kissed Booth's forehead and left the room.

A few hours later Brennan walked in with a footy pajama clad Amanda, who was clutching her stuffed bear.

"Daddy sleep."

"Yep Daddy is still sleeping, he'll wake up soon though. Do you want to sit on his lap while I read your story?" Amanda nodded as Brennan sat her in Booth's lap and covered her with her blanket, before moving Booth hands around her."Comfortable?" Amanda nodded

"Tell daddy you love him before I start."

Amanda turned and looked into Booth's face and said, "Love Daddy." Brennan smiled then she sat next to Booth and started the story. Half way through the book Brennan looked over at Amnada who was asleep; the bear had fallen out of her hand and landed in the crook of Booth's arm."She's asleep Booth but, I'm not going to move her for a while so she'll hopefully sleep all night in her own bead." Brennan closed the book and ran her fingers through Amanda's hair.

They sat for a while; Amanda snuggled into Booth's lap and Brennan holding his hand.

When Booth's night nurse came in she worked around Amanda and reclined Booth's bed a little."Somebody's out."

"Yeah, I'm letting her sleep here a little longer sp hopefully she'll stay asleep all night when we get home."

"She's still not sleeping through the night?"

"No, I think she misses Booth, he always put her to bed at home."

"Hopefully he'll be back to it soon."

"I hope so."

The nurse nodded and left the room. a half hour later Brennan carefully picked up Amanda and leaned over Booth, "Booth we're going to go home now , hopefully Amanda won't wake up when we get home and be up all night. Good night I love you. I'll come see you at lunch tomorrow and bring Amanda back at night for another story." Brennan kissed Booth's forehead twice, once for her and once for Amanda.

**A/N 2: The second to last chapter of "What If" is almost done and should be up by Monday…. this just popped in my head and I wanted to get it out…. hope you all like it…..**


	2. Chapter 2

In the 2 weeks since Amanda had turned two, the terrible two's had hit hard and Amanda's answer to everything was 'no'. Brennan wished Booth was there to help so that she could keep under control easier. It wasn't the fact that Amanda was acting up that had her on the verge of breaking; it was the fact that Booth was still comatose and no one could tell her why or if and when he'd wake up. All the doctors were taking the' wait and see' approach to Booth, his brain was normal and functioning according to every test they'd ran.

Brennan had just sat down at her desk with a sigh, it was only 8 in the morning and she was all ready tired. Amanda hadn't slept much the night before and she was cantankerous when Brennan was getting them both ready and out the door, when the phone rang.

"Brennan."

"Dr. Brennan you need to get down here as soon as you can. Seeley is fine, but you need to get down here ASAP."

"Thanks Katie, I'll be there in 45 minutes." Brennan grabbed her coat and told Cam that she was leaving for the day. The drive felt like it took hours, the last time they told her to get there ASAP Booth had pneumonia and she'd almost lost him. This time though Katie didn't sound worried. Brennan hurried to Booth's room only to be stopped by his doctor at the nurses' station.

"Doctor Brennan, Seeley is okay, he woke up about an hour ago. We don't know how he's affected; he's too agitated for us to do the tests. He keeps asking for bones."

Brennan grinned like a fool, "Bones is his nickname for me."

"Oh. That's a good sign. You can go see him, he needs to calm down or we're going to have to sedate him." Brennan nodded and went to Booth's room; Katie was trying to calm him down. Brennan walked to Booth's bed and took his hand.'' Booth?"

"Bones?

"Yeah, I'm here. You're fine, but you need to relax, okay? Getting worked up isn't good for you. Take a deep breath." Booth took a few breaths and Brennan could see him relax a little. Brennan kissed him.

"Bones?"

"I'm right here Booth." Brennan squeezed his hand harder.

"What?"

Brennan looked at the door, the doctor was standing there, and he nodded telling Brennan she could tell Booth what happened.

"Booth do you want to know what happened? He nodded.

"Do you know where you are?"

"The Hospital…"

"Yes, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I was holding…I was holding…."

"Amanda."

"Yeah, I was holding Amanda and my head starting hurting really bad and I couldn't see that good, there were three of everything and it was blurry. Then I don't remember. I didn't drop her did I?"

"No, you yelled for me and I put her on the floor and got you sitting down in the rocker while I put Amanda in her crib. Then I called Angela, by the time she got to our house your vision started clear a little so I got you in the car and we went to the Emergency room. After tests the doctors discovered your brain tumor had returned it was the same type as the first time. They removed it, everything went great, but you reacted to the anesthetic and have been in a coma for 7 ½ months." Brennan felt  
Booth tense, "Booth you're going to be fine, but you need to stay calm and let the doctors do the tests they need to, okay? I'll stay if I can, but I might not be able to."

"Okay." Brennan kissed Booth again and went to talk to the doctor. She came back a few minutes later. "Booth, I can't stay in the room, but I'll be right outside the door." Booth nodded.

An hour and a half later Brennan learned Booth was confused, he was having problems with his short and long term memory, and his speech was slurring some words. he also had months of physical and occupational therapy ahead to get back what he'd lost lying in a bed for 7 ½ months. The doctors were hopeful all of his symptoms would improve with time. No one knew if he'd be able to return to the FBI; it all depended on how his brain recovered. None of that mattered to Brennan though all that mattered to her was that Booth was awake and with her, Parker, and Amanda. Brennan didn't ask Booth any questions and he didn't ask her much they were both content just being together. A little bit later Brennan noticed Booth looking at the water pitcher on the table. "Booth, do you want some water?"

"Yeah, I couldn't remember…"

"It's all right you'll get better you've only been awake for a few hours." Brennan kissed his cheek, "I'll be right back."

Booth nodded and Brennan returned with a cup of ice chips. "They wouldn't give me anything but ice chips, it's better than nothing." Brennan walked to the bed and started to give Booth a spoonful of ice chips, he put a hand on her arm. "N-No."

Brennan smiled, "Booth it's okay I don't mind, it's going to be a while before you get your strength back and are able to do this yourself. Just relax." Booth relented and let Brennan give him the ice chips. After a few spoonfuls Booth turned his head, focusing on the picture of the four of them at an amusement park with Russ, Amy and the girls just a month Booth got sick. Brennan picked it up and handed it to him.

"I remember that we had to leave right after this was taken."

"Right."

"Because Parker found out the hard way that tilt-a- whirls and corn dogs, a sno cone, nacho cheese, and a gallon of soda don't mix."

"Yeah, that was not a fun night, but at least we had a condo to stay in and not a hotel."

"Amanda wouldn't sleep in the pack n play, I had to hold her most of the night."

"While I cleaned up puke all night."

"Sorry I offered, but Parker wanted you."

"It's okay, it's something moms do."

"Yeah…"

"Booth, do you want to see the kids?"

"Yeah."

"Parker left yesterday for science camp, he'll be gone for two weeks. I'll see if the doctors will let Amanda visit. I brought her here every night after dinner and she sat on your lap while I read to her, most of the time she fell asleep on you."

"I think I could feel you put her on me, I could feel things a little sometimes."

"Really?"

"Yeah I just felt the w-weight or something I-I think."

"That's good. I'll be right back." Booth nodded. Brennan came back a few minutes later. "Amanda can come visit and Parker if he was in town, but the doctors only want immediate family for a few days. I can call Jarred. "

"No j-just you."

"And Amanda?"

"Yeah forgot…."

"Booth it's okay, some memories are gone. The doctors think that names of people, places and things are going to the area of memory you struggle with the most. You can rebuild your memories some, but it's going to take time. I will help you as much as I can and so will everyone else. Why don't you try and get some rest? I'll be gone for almost two hours."

"W-Why?"

"Because it takes about 45 minutes to get to the lab from here. You're not at Washington General hospital, you had the surgery there, but when we determined you weren't going to wake up anytime soon I had you moved to Georgetown University hospital's long term care facility and rehabilitation center."

"Oh. "

Brennan kissed Booth's cheek, "I'll be back soon. I love you."

"L-l-love you." Brennan nodded and quickly left the room before Booth could see the tears in her eyes. She only got a few feet from his room before Katie noticed them. "Doctor Brennan are you okay?"

"Yeah Booth just told me he loves me and it's been awhile…."

"I understand."

"I'm going to get Amanda, he wants to see her."

"She'll like that, they both will."

"Yeah me too." Brennan hurried to her car and returned in under two hours with Amanda in tow. The little girl got excited when she saw where they were.

"Daddy?"

Brennan smiled sat down in the lobby and pulled Amanda into her lap. "Amanda, I need to tell you something; it's really important, you need to listen to mommy okay?"

"K."

"Daddy is awake, he might be asleep but you can wake him up when you go in there. You can't run, or yell when we go in there, daddy doesn't feel good. You can't jump on him. I'll sit you on the bed like always all right?"

"K."

"When you go in Daddy's room can you run?"

"No."

"Right. Can you yell?"

"No."

"Right. Can you jump on Daddy?"

"No."

"Let's go see him."

"K."

Brennan headed to Booth's room; Katie came out of it and smiled at Brennan."I just checked on him, he's doing well. He asked if you were here yet. The doc said to try him on Jell-O; I did as soon as you left so far so good. I don't think Seeley liked it though."

Brennan smiled and adjusted Amanda on her hip, "he probably didn't, and pudding is his favorite hospital food."

"What flavor?"

"Vanilla."

"I'll make a note."

"Thanks."

"No problem, stay as long as you want; I can have dinner sent in for the three of you."

"Thanks, when Booth gets his can you send in a salad and macaroni and cheese?"

"Sure, Italian dressing?"

"Yes thanks."

"You're welcome, now get in there and see him!"

Brennan chuckled and went in the room. Booth was awake and lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw Amanda. "Hi baby girl." Brennan smiled when Booth used his nickname for her.

"Daddy!" Amanda started straining in Brenan's arm to get to Booth. "Hold still I need to take your shoes off then I'll sit you on Daddy's lap like always." Brennan kissed the top of her head and started slipping off her shoes.

Brennan sat Amanda so that she was sitting sideways in Booth's lap, but Amanda twisted herself around so that her face was in Booth's chest."Amanda-"

"B-B-Bones l-leave h-h-her."

Brennan smiled, "okay tell ne if it's too much."

Booth nodded and used what little strength he had to try and put his arm on Amanda's back, Brennan let him do as much as he could on his own and helped him a little. Amanda shifted and pressed herself in to Booth's chest more. "I think someone is going to go to sleep, she didn't sleep much last night." Brennan smiled and ran her hand through Amanda's hair."

"W-why?"

"I'm not sure she hasn't slept well since you've been here." Booth tried to shift his grip on Amanda.

"Are you getting tired?"

"No."

"I can put you bed back a little. It might make it easier for you to hold her if you're leaning back a little more." Booth nodded and Brennan reclined the head of Booth's bed a little and then she moved Amanda so she lay higher on Booth's chest. The little girl started to wake up, "Go to sleep sweetheart, I just moved you so you and daddy would be more comfortable." Brennan placed one of Booth's hands on Amanda's back and the other under her bottom. Booth smiled a little when Amanda sighed and snuggled deeper in to Booth chest. Brennan stood watching and then she smiled "And she's out, I haven't seen her that relaxed in a long time." Brennan snapped a picture with her phone then moved to the closet in the corner and retrieved one of Amanda's larger baby blankets and placed it over her, taking Booth's hand out from underneath, replacing them on top.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Booth."

They sat in silence while Amanda slept after a two hour nap Brennan woke her up and helped her turn over so she could still be on Booth lap and watch a movie. Just as the movie ended the family's dinner was brought in and Brennan got Amanda settled with 'her macaroni and cheese at the small table in the corner. Once Amanda was eating and not paying attention to what Brennan was doing she moved to Booth and took the lid off his tray to reveal soup and Jell-O, she picked up the spoon and got a spoonful and turned to feed it to Booth, his eyes went to Amanda. "Booth, she's got a plateful of macaroni and carrots she won't notice that I'm feeding you and if she does it won't be a big deal. Careful it's hot." Booth accepted and ate a little less than half of the soup and none of the jell-o.

"Hey Amanda, do you want daddy's jell-o?"

The little girl looked at Brennan with a spoonful of macaroni in her hand."Yucky, mommy!" Booth started laughing, Brennan joined him. "Angela had jell-o snakes made for JJ's birthday and Amanda tried the head of one and spit it out, she's not a fan."

"Neither am I "

"I know I told them you're a pudding fan."

"Thanks."

After Brennan ate and cleaned up Amanda she sat her on Booth's bed. "Say goodnight to daddy, we need to go home so you can have a bath and go to sleep."

"No!" Amanda grabbed Booth's arm and laid down on him. Brennan knelt down and brushed Amanda's hair back. "I know you don't want to go home, that you want to stay here, but daddy needs to go to bed too. If you let me take you home and give you a bath and put your pjs on I'll read you two stories and you can have a cookie when we get home."

Amanda sat up let Brennan pick her up. "Tell daddy you love him."

"Love daddy."

"L-l-love you too, baby girl." Brennan held Amanda over Booth, close enough to his face so he could kiss her cheek. Brennan put Amanda on her hip and leaned over and kissed Booth, "I love you, Booth. "L-l-love you too, Bones." Brennan smiled and started to walk out of the room. When they got to the lobby Amanda started to cry, "Sweetheart you can come see daddy after lunch okay? I'll pick you up and we'll go get daddy a surprise before we come see him, okay?"

"K."

"Now let's go home and have a cookie." Brennan rubbed Amanda's back.

"K." Brennan kissed the top of Amanda's head and headed to her car.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Brennan got up a little earlier than normal she had to get things for Amanda to take to Angela's to stay with JJ rather than daycare; Brennan knew she'd be to hyper for that. Plus she wanted to get some photo albums and things together to take to Booth to help fill in the gaps in his memories if he felt up to it. Once Brennan had all the stuff packed up she went to get Amanda up. Brennan stood and watched the little girl sleep, last night was the first night she slept through the night and in her own bed since Booth got sick. Brennan rubbed Amanda's back, "time to get up sweetie; you've got a big day ahead. You're going to play with JJ today at Angela's house and then I'm going to pick you up after lunch and we'll get daddy a surprise then go see him."

Amanda turned over and let Brennan lift her out of her crib. "Daddy?"

Brennan smiled and kissed Amanda's cheek."We'll see daddy in a little bit, but first you need to eat breakfast and get ready and go play with JJ for a while."

"K." Brennan carried Amanda downstairs to the kitchen and sat her in her seat before going to the cabinet and filling her pink princess bowl with dry cereal and putting half of a sliced banana on top. Carrying it over to Amanda she said, "Please try to use your spoon, I don't have time to get mashed banana out of your hair today," Brennan poured milk in to the matching spill proof cup and sat it on the table

"K."

Brennan kissed the top of Amanda's head and went to get her toast from the toaster and the rest of Amanda's banana and sat down for breakfast. An hour later Brennan kissed Amanda good bye and sent her with Angela and grabbed the bag of photo albums and headed to the care facility. Brennan got to Booth's room in time to see him drop a forkful of breakfast on himself. She strode to the bed, dropping the bags at her feet. "Booth let me help you while it's hot. You can try with the toast." Booth nodded and let Brennan gently take the fork from his hand and get another forkful of the scrambled egg and fed it to him.

Booth chewed the bite. "The eggs are gross Bones."

"I know but you need bland foods for awhile, your stomach has to get used to food. Being on liquids so long made your stomach shrink down."

Booth nodded and took another bite of his eggs. "Do you want to try the toast? They gave you jelly, mixed berry."

"Yeah…" Brennan slathered the little packet of jelly on the toast, leaving one corner dry so Booth could hold on to it without getting in a mess. Brennan handed Booth the toast and waited for him to eat a bite or two.

Brennan smiled as Booth took a bit of the toast, chewed and swallowed."This is the best toast ever, Bones!"

Brennan smiled, "eat three more bites of your eggs then I'll let you enjoy your toast." Booth nodded and let Brennan put the toast on the tray and picked up the fork and loaded it with eggs.

"How was Amanda last night?"

"She was good. She didn't want to go home last night, but after two cookies, a bath and two books she went down and slept for the whole night in her bed. She hasn't really done that since you've been here."Booth nodded and let Brenan give him another forkful of eggs.

"What's in the bag?"

"Picture albums, I thought they'd help with your memories." Booth nodded and ate the remaining bites of egg that Brennan fed to him. Once he was done Brennan handed him the toast and waited for him to finish it himself.

"Bones that was more than three bites of egg."

"I know you ate the entire thing. I did the same thing to Amanda a few days ago to get her to finish her dinner." Booth smiled and accepted f the straw in the carton of milk Brennan held for him.

"You seem better than you did yesterday Booth. You're not slurring your words today."

"I feel better. I'd feel really good if the nurses would have left me to sleep all night rather than flip me over like a piece of meat every couple hours."

"Booth, they have to do that so hopefully you won't get pneumonia again. You got a moth after you came here and you almost died. Once you get more mobile and can sit up in a chair they won't need to flip you over all the time."

"I slept through it until shift change but the night nurse kept waking me up, just when I'd get sleeping good she'd come in again!"

"I'll talk to Katie."

"Thanks Bones"

"You're welcome Booth. Booth are we married?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember when or how long?"

"It was four years on March 12."

"And you got a cold the day of so instead of going to the Bahamas we stayed home and I made you soup and made you tale medicine you didn't want."

"Yeah, but I will admit it was fun except for the congestion."

Booth chuckled and tried to grab Brennan's hand and ran his fingers over her knuckles, stopping at her wedding ring. "What happened to my ring Bones?"

Brennan smiled and bulled a chain out from her shirt. "You gave it to me when they took you for surgery and when we realized you weren't going to wake up I put on a chain and started wearing it. I'll give it back when you start doing a little better."

"Okay."

"Do you want to look at the pictures?"

"Yeah." Brennan pulled an album out and laid it across Booth's lap and they began looking at the photos. An hour later Booth's therapist Nicole entered the room. "Seeley, I'm Nicole, your physical therapist. I've been doing exercises with you since you've been here. It's nice to see you awake. We're going to do some stretches and range of motion exercises then we're going to get you sitting up on the side of the bed."

Booth nodded as Nicole began the exercises. "A little pain is to be expected because you haven't used your muscles in so long, but if it really starts hurting tell me and I'll stop."

"Okay." for the next thirty minutes Booth lay still while Nicole manipulated his stiff limbs."Booth are you in pain?"

"No, it just feels like it does when I fall asleep on the couch and you leave me there all night and I try to get up the next morning." Brennan smiled and kissed Booth's forehead.

"Okay Seeley I'm going to try and get you sitting up. I'm going to go really slowly, if you start to get dizzy tell me so I can lay you down."

"Okay."

Nicole gently moved Booth's legs over the side of the bed and gently lifted him up. "How does it feel to be sitting up Seeley?" Brennan gasped at how thin Booth was now and how thin his hair was in the back.

"Weird, but okay. Bones?" Brennan want around to Booth's other side and took his hand. "I'm here Booth." Booth smiled a little and noticed the tears in Brennan's eyes. "What's wrong Bones?"

"Nothing I just didn't think I'd ever see you sitting up."

Booth started to reach for Brennan, but stopped half way unsure of his balance.

"Go ahead Seeley, I've got you; you're not going to fall." Nicole moved off to the side and placed her hands to hold on to Booth's shoulder's more. Booth pulled Brennan into a side hug and kissed her cheek. "Bones, I'm gonna be okay, it's gonna take a while, but I'll be okay."

"I know." Brennan kissed him back. Nicole gave them a minute and said, "Seeley, I think we've done enough for this morning I'm going to lay you back now."

"Okay Brennan gave Booth one last kiss and moved to the side s o Nichole could lay Booth back in the bed. Once he was lying down Nicole scooted him up in the bed. "That should be more comfortable and make it easier for you to sit up."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome; I'll be back this afternoon to do everything again. In a week or two you should be able to sit in a chair and then we'll get you down to the therapy room and really start working you out."

"Sounds good." Nicole nodded and left. A few minutes later Katie came in and got Booth cleaned up for the day and into a clean hospital gown. "Once we get you up in a chair you can start wearing normal clothes; sweatpants and the like."

"Bones you're gonna have to get me smaller ones I think."

"I will, I'll take Amanda this weekend."

"Okay is Parker coming today?"

"No, Booth, he's at science camp for another week and a half."

"Oh right…"

"Booth why don't you get some rest? You've had a long morning. I'll be leaving to get Amanda soon; we have a stop to make before we come back so we'll be a little later than yesterday."

"Okay." Booth relaxed into the bed and closed his eyes a few minutes later he was asleep and Brennan left to get Amanda. Forty five minutes later Brennan was let into the Hodgins' estate by Angela.

"Hey Sweetie. How's Booth?"

"Hi Ange. Booth's doing good he's not slurring his words today; he's still having problems with his memory though. The therapist got him up and sitting on the side of the bed for five or so minutes this morning. She said in a week or two he should be able to sit in a chair and then they could really start his rehab workout."

"That's great Bren!"

"Yeah, how was Amanda?"

"She was a perfect little angel like always except she didn't want to nap after lunch with JJ; she's waiting for you on the couch."

"She wants Booth; she'll fall asleep on him for a few hours."

"Aw take pictures."

"I do."

The two went in to the living room and Amanda launched herself into Brennan's arms. "Hey Sweetheart did you have fun with JJ?"

"Uh huh. Daddy?"

Brennan laughed, "Okay say bye to Angela and give her a hug then we'll go get a surprise for daddy then go see him." Amends reached for Angela and gave her a hug. "Bye,"

"Bye munchkin."

"Bye Ange, thanks for babysitting."

"Bye Bren, you're welcome! Tell Booth hi."

"I will."

Twenty minutes later Brennan was holding Amanda in the isle of stuffed get well animals at the drugstore."Which one do you want to get for daddy?"

"That one." Amanda pointed in the general area of several stuffed animals and Brennan wasn't too sure which one she wanted so she steeped closer to the shelf. "Pick it up." Amanda grabbed a pink and purple striped cat.

Brennan smiled, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay let's go get a balloon and a few other things then we'll go see daddy."

"K."

"Do you want to hold the cat or put it in the basket?" Amanda dropped the cat in the basket on Brennan's arm as she headed for the greeting cards and picked out a get well card she knew Booth would like and picked up one of the two get well balloons they had and added the latest editions of ESPN magazine and sports illustrated and a few graphic novels and a gift bag then headed to the checkout. Once they got to the car Brennan sat Amanda in the floor and wrote get well soon daddy in the card then gave Amanda the pen and guided her hand so she could write her name.

"Good job sweetie, let's get you in your car seat and go."

"K."

Brennan picked up Amanda strapped her in the seat and noticed how sleepy she was. "Are you going to go to sleep on daddy again?"

"Uh-huh." Brennan smiled and kissed Amanda's forehead before putting all the items in the gift bag.

Close to an hour later Brennan pulled into the rehab center parking lot and got an almost asleep Amanda out of the car and grabbed the gift bag. "Just a few more minutes' sweetie then you can take a nap.

"K."

Brennan quickly walked to Booth's room. Brennan noticed Booth looked a little more rested, but still tired and he was sitting up a little more. "Hi baby girl." Amanda held her arms out; Brennan started taking her shoes off as she walked over to the bed. "She's tired she wouldn't nap when JJ did, she wants you."

Booth smiled as Brennan laid Amanda face down on his chest and she snuggled in."We got you a surprise, but I think you need to wait until Amanda is awake."

"Yeah, actually a nap sounds good. Nicole came in after you left and sat ne up again for a while then Katie came in with lunch. I think it was a roast beef sandwich, not too sure didn't resemble beef much."

"When you get more mobile I'll see if I can't get you something from the diner once and a while. There's a diner not far from here that isn't bad."

"Thanks Bones."

"You're welcome Booth. Go to sleep I'll be here when you wake up." Brennan grabbed Amanda's blanket and covered her up, kissing both their foreheads and whispering 'I love you'

Two hours later Booth woke up and Brennan woke Amanda

"Amanda you need to give daddy his surprise now."

"K."

Brennan held the bag as Booth got each thing out himself with a little help.

"A pink and purple striped get well cat! I'll fell well in no time now! Thanks Amanda." Booth kissed Amanda's cheek as Brennan handed him the card and magazines.

"I loved my surprise guys, I think we should have mommy put the cat, card, and balloon by the pictures in the corner. Leave the magazines on the table I'll look at them tonight before bed."

"Okay." Brennan put the items where Booth wanted and sat with them and watched TV until dinner was brought in and after she took Amanda home for a bath and bed.

A/N: Next chapter we skip to Parker visiting…. will be a while as I am posting this from vacation...


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay, but today January 28 2013 is the first that since I posted the last chapter that I've felt like writing! That has never happened and I haven't been on the computer much since I posted the last chapter… today is February 11 2013 and I am finally posting the chapter it's shorter than I'd like but my writing mojo isn't all back yet….**

In the two weeks since Booth had woken up he'd improved to sitting in a wheelchair and going down to the therapy room and beginning his rehabilitation. He had also begun wearing normal clothes, albeit they were a size smaller than he wore before the coma. Booth had also gained the ability to feed himself as long as someone opened containers and cut things up into bite size pieces and he didn't need to use a spoon. Booth couldn't wait for Nicole to say that they'd done enough for the day so he could go back to his room and wait on Brennan to get there with Parker.

"Seeley relax you usually aren't this tight. What's up?" Nicole was stretching his legs out.

"Sorry Nicole it's just that Bones is going to bring Parker to see me for the first time today, and I guess I'm a little excited…"

Nicole smiled and let Booth's leg rest on the mat and began sliding his shoe on. "Okay, I think we can end a little early as long as you try to push your chair at least half way back to your room."

"Okay."

"Let me get Jane to help get you in the chair then I'll get you sitting up." Booth nodded.

A few minutes later Nicole came back with her therapy assistant Jane. "Okay Seeley, I'm going to do most of the work here, but I want you to try and pull yourself up a little by yourself first, okay?" Booth nodded and began trying to sit up on his own. He lifted his upper body about two inches and started to fall back down; Nicole slid her hands under Booth's back and got him into a sitting position. "Good job Seeley!"

"Didn't get very far…."

"You didn't, but you got farther than you did the first time you tried. And you'll get even farther next time you try it. it's going to take time you were flat on your back for 7 and a half months , you lost a lot of muscle we'll get it back in time…"

"I know…"

"…you just want to get the heck out of here and go home… I get it…"

Booth gave Nicole an 'I highly doubt it look' she smiled. "When I was 13 I got in a really bad car accident. I had multiple compound fractures of both legs; they almost had to amputate my right one. My left arm was broken as well as my jaw. The car basically folded in on me during impact. I spent almost a year in a place like this. I had to relearn everything, I hated every second of it… I wanted to go home, but couldn'tn't until I got stronger. You won't be in here for a year, I'd say in three months you'll be home. You'll need to come back for daily therapy for a while though."

"So I won't be home in time for the holidays?"

"No, but depending on your progress you might be able to go home for the day. You'll need to be able to stand and take a few steps with the help of a walker or cane."Booth nodded.

"Okay, let's get you in the chair and in your room so you can rest before your son gets here." Nicole pulled the wheelchair up to the side of the mat and locked the wheels. Next she laid Booth's arms across his chest and supported the top half of his body. "Jane are you good to lift on three?"

"Yep." She grabbed Booth's legs. "1...2..." Nicole and Jane easily lifted Booth into his standard issue hospital wheelchair. Nicole placed Booth's feet on the rests and scooted him back. "Okay Seeley I'm going to turn you around and then rest is up to you. I'll be behind you if you need help though." Nicole headed Booth's chair towards the doorway and he slowly took off.

Booth made it to the corner and crashed into it as he turned down the hallway."You're doing great Seeley." Nicole straightened the chair out and waited for Booth to take over again.

By the time Booth had made it a little more than halfway to his room his shirt was soaked with sweat and he as red faced. "Okay Seeley arms up. How do you feel? "Both took his hands off the wheels and Nicole took over

"Sore, but okay. That almost killed me and I used to bench press my body weight plus 30.'"

"You'll get it back. When you got here you were a solid 160, now you're a weak 135."

"I lost that much?"

"Yeah it's all muscle though."

Nicole got Booth the rest of the way to his room quickly."Where do you want to sit now?"

Katie came in then "how about a bed bath? I know a shower is what you would like but we're severely short staffed at the moment."

"That's fine what I really want is a clean shirt."

"We can do that. "

"Do you want Jane to come down?"

"No, we'll be alright; apparently they're sending help 'soon'"

"Okay. Seeley I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll be here!"

Brennan was waiting outside her car for Parker to emerge from the mass of campers getting their bags from the pile next to the school bus. The boy looked up and Brennan waved as Parker walked toward her. "Hi Bones."

"Hey Parker did you have a good time at Camp?"

"Yeah it was a lot of fun I can't wait to go back next year. I thought mom was picking me up…"

"She was but she had a meeting come up, besides we thought you'd like to see your dad."

"Yeah is he okay?"

"Your dad is fine Parker. He woke up the day after you left for camp."

"So he's going to be okay?"

"Yes, but it's going to be a while before he's home with us. He has to have a lot of physical therapy to rebuild all the muscle he lost laying in bed for 7 ½ months. No one knows if your dad will ever be back to what he was before the coma. In my professional and personal opinion he won't be; his brain is damaged and he won't be able to recover completely. But he'll be close to his old self as possible."

"He knows who I am and stuff though right?"

"Yes, he knows who you and Amanda are and he remembers things about the two of you. He has forgotten some things and is having trouble remembering new information, but he is improving."

"So he can walk and do all the stuff he did before…"

"Eventually he more than likely will be able to do all the things he did before the coma, but it's going to take time. It will be at least a month before your father is strong enough to support his own body weight let alone take a step. He is just able to sit up in a chair at the moment."

"Do you think dad will want to see all the pictures I took at camp? I was just going to tell him about it."

"Yes, your father will enjoy looking at the pictures Parker; he gets very bored after his morning of therapy."

"Okay." Parker rummaged through Booth's old Army duffel bag and unearthed his camera.

"How many pictures did you take?"

"Over 200."

"Pick your favorites and next weekend we can take them to Angela and she can print them out for you. "

"Okay." Parker spent the rest of the drive scrolling through the pictures and choosing what he wanted printed.

Katie was coming out of Booth's room when they got there. "He's waiting on you Parker. " Brennan pushed him forward a little. "Go on Parker, he's fine. I'll be there in a minute; I need to talk to Katie…" Parker nodded and went into Booth's room.

"Hi Bub!"

"Hi Dad…"

"C'mere Bub, don't cry I'm going to be okay." Parker all but ran to Booth's bed and stood on his tiptoes to reach over the bed better and threw his arms around Booth who wished for a few seconds that Parker was small enough for Brennan to pick up and lay on him like she did Amanda every afternoon. Brennan watched from the doorway and snapped a few pictures with her camera before going into the room. She reached around Parker and lowered the bedrail, Parker scooted closer. After a few moments Parker pulled back.

"Here's your camera Parker. Are the two of you going to be all right on your own? I need to run an errand."

"Yeah Bones we'll be okay. Where are you going?"

"You'll see it's a surprise…."

"Okay." Brennan kissed the top of Parker's head and Booth's cheek. "I'll be back in a half hour or so."

"Okay. Love you."

"I love you too, Booth."

Parker scooted the chair closer to the bed and turned on the camera." I took over 200 pictures at camp you don't have to look at them all."

"I'll look at them all, I'm very bored here."

"Cool…" Booth took the camera and began scrolling through the pictures while Parker told stories about them.

Thirty minutes later Brennan waked back in the room with bags of food and a drink holder containing three milkshakes.

"What do you have Bones?"

"Burgers, fries, shakes, and cookies, the pie is premade the kind you don't like. I got permission from your doctor; you can have something from the diner once a month. I thought today was a good day for it."

"Thanks Bones."

"You're welcome. Brennan handed Parker his food and sat Booth's on his tray table and she began unwrapping the burger and cut it into four pieces.

"I still hate that I need my food cut up like a toddler…"

"…I know it won't be forever plus cutting these up makes them less messy. Don't believe me? Look at Parker's mess." Booth turned his head to see most of the insides of Parker's cheeseburger fall into the cardboard container in his hand. Booth smiled a little and picked up a quarter of his cheeseburger.

"Parker put your burger back together and I'll cut it up for you."

"Thanks Bones."

Once everyone's burgers were cut into more manageable pieces Brennan got her own burger from the bag and cut into it.

"Bones you got a burger too?"

"Yes, they have a decent veggie burger. Are you enjoying your meal Booth?"

"Yep except you forgot the ketchup…"

"I didn't forget to get it; I just forgot to give it to you…" Brennan reached into her bag and pulled out a hand full if packets, giving a few to Parker and then she got up and opened a few for Booth letting him squeezes the contents where he wanted it. After the food was eaten Brennan sat next to Booth and listen to Parker tell them both about his adventures at science camp. Hours later Brennan smiled at father and son who were almost asleep watching sports highlights.

"Parker say good night to your dad, I told your mom I'd have you home by 8:30 and its 7 now. I'm picking you up Saturday morning and bringing you and Amanda out here."

"Okay. Goodnight Dad, I love you. See you Saturday."

"Night Bub love you see you Saturday." Parker gave Booth a hug and then Brennan kissed him. "Bye Booth love you."

"Bye Bones love you too. Thanks for today. Tell Amanda good night for me."

"I will if she's still awake when I get her from Angela I'll call you so you can tell her yourself."

"Okay."Brennan kissed Booth and then she and Parker left."

It was almost 9 before Brennan pulled into Angela and Hodgins house and knocked on the door.

"Hey Sweetie how was Booth and Parker's visit?"

"Great, I don't know who enjoyed it more."

"That's good!"

"How was Amanda?"

"She was a perfect little angel; she fell asleep on Hodgins about 7. I checked on them about a half hour ago; Hodgins is asleep too."

Brennan smiled and followed Angela to the couch where she carefully picked up Amanda and settled her on her shoulder without waking the two year old or the entomologist.

"Thanks Ange."

"You're welcome Sweetie."

Brennan kissed the top of Amanda's head and headed to her car. Once Amanda was strapped into her car seat Brennan called Booth to tell him that Amanda was asleep and not to wait for their call before heading home.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few weeks Booth continued to improve and pushing his wheelchair back to his room wasn't the major effort it once was and he could now pull himself into a sitting position with little help from Nicole. The 'downside' of the improvement was Nicole was pushing Booth harder everyday and after he got back to his room Katie would get him cleaned up and in clean clothes then he'd eat whatever food she brought him and then he'd fight to keep his eyes open until Brennan laid Amanda on him and they'd sleep for a few hours. One afternoon Booth was awake and absently rubbing Amanda's back while she slept.

"Bones, can you come to therapy tomorrow?"

"Yes, any reason why?"

"Nicole is going to try and get me standing. I-I need you here for that. Don't bring Amanda, she doesn't need to see if something goes wrong…. like I fall on my face…"

"Booth you're ready if you weren't Nicole wouldn't have suggested it."

"I know…"

"But you're scared to do it, that's normal; you've not stood up in 9 months. You'll be fine Booth. After your therapy you can rest and have lunch while go get Amanda and we'll stay here until bedtime."

"Thanks Bones."

"You're welcome Booth. Get some sleep; daycare took a field trip to see the dinosaurs today. Amanda wants to tell you about it when she wakes up."

"Okay, Parker loved doing that when he was little. I think his favorite thing was that you went with us."

"I loved going with the two of you."

"Maybe we can go again when you come home for good."

"Yeah…"

"Booth, you're going to come home soon."

"Yeah, Nicole said I wouldn't be home in time for the holidays, but if I am able to stand and take a few steps with the help of a walker or cane I might be able to come home for the day."

"That's great. We can have everyone over or just us and the kids-whatever you want."

"Okay, I'm going to try and get some sleep."

"All right, I'm going to work on my chapter; Amanda hasn't been letting me get much done these last few days." Booth nodded and rubbed Amanda's back closing his eyes.

The next morning Brennan got to Booth's room just as Katie and Nicole were getting him in his wheelchair.

"Hey Bones, you made it."

"Yes, I told you I would be here, Booth." Brennan bent to give Booth a kiss as Nicole put his feet on the rests.

"I'm going to leave the two to talk while Seeley wheels himself down to therapy."

"Thanks Nicole."

"You're welcome Seeley, you've got ten minutes." Booth nodded as Nicole left the room. Not even five minutes later Nicole was kneeling in front of Booth's chair."Are you ready to stand up Seeley?"

"Yeah." Booth squeezed Brennan's hand "You're going to be fine Booth." Nicole smiled and slipped a gait belt around Booth's waist and made sure that it wasn't too tight, but tight enough that if he did start to fall she could help stop him. "Okay Seeley we're going to go over to the parallel bars and you're going to pull yourself up, like we practiced. I'll be in front of you holding on to you and the gait belt; Jane will be behind you with the chair in case you need to sit quickly. You're going to be fine, just take your time."

Booth nodded and sucked in a breath as Nicole moved the foot rests out of the way. Booth took a breath and pulled himself up. Once he had his balance he looked over at Brennan who had tears in her eyes. "Bones are you going to cry every single time I do something that I haven't done in a while?"

"Yes…."

"Come here…"

"Dr. Brennan just duck under the bar." Brennan nodded and ducked under the bar and came up on Booth's right side. Nicole nodded and Booth let go of the bar with one hand and looped his arm around Brennan.  
Brennan held on but not too tight. "I've missed doing this…"

"Me too."

Nicole let them stand there for a while before she noticed Booth starting to get tired, "Seeley why don't you sit and rest for a minute or two then you can try to take a few steps if you feel up to it."

"Okay."

"The chair is behind you, just reach back with your right and sit." Booth nodded and gave Brennan a quick kiss and did as Nicole said. "How'd it felt?"

"Good."

"That's great. Rest and we can try to walk then we'll do your stretches and then I think Dr. Brennan can give you a ride to your room."

"Sounds good to me."

A few minutes later Booth was standing in the parallel bars. "Whenever you're ready Seeley."

Booth nodded and shifted his weight to take a step, and nothing happened."Bones."

Brennan walked to the rail and touched Booth's arm. "What?"

"I can't do this..."

"Yes you can, if you want to. If you don't want to today you can try in a few days."

"I want to but…"

"Booth, you aren't going to fall, Nicole is holding on to you, Jane has your chair behind you and I'm right here." Booth nodded and looked at his feet and took a steep followed by three more.

"I can't do this anymore, I have to sit down."

"Okay gives Jane a few seconds to lock your chair and you can sit. Seeley you did really well today."Nicole and Jane helped Booth sit down. "Thanks my legs feel like they're gonna fall off."

"That's normal, it will get better as you get used to standing and walking. Let's do a few things then I'll let Dr. Brennan wheel you to your room."

"Okay." Nicole had Booth do some weights and other leg strengthening exercises and 45 minutes later Brennan was wheeling him back to his room. "Today wore me out, Bones."

"I can tell, but like Nicole said it will get easier as time goes on. Try and nap while I get Amanda."

"I will believe me." Five minutes later Katie was helping Booth change and Brennan was on her way to get Amanda.

A little over two hours later Brennan carried Amanda in to Booth's room and the little girl started to cry."Sweetheart what's wrong?"

"Daddy."

Brennan looked up and smiled a little, "Amanda, daddy is just taking a nap, he's not sleeping like he was before. He'll wake up as soon as you give him a kiss."

"K." Brennan wiped Amanda's tears and walked to the bed and held her where she could kiss Booth's cheek. In a few seconds Booth's eyes opened and he smiled. "Hi Amanda."The smile was replaced with a frown,"What's wrong?"

"When we came in she saw you sleeping and thought you weren't going to wake up." Booth sat the head of the bed up more and took Amanda from Brennan. "I'm sorry I scared you baby girl, I was just taking a nap while I was waiting on you and mommy to get here. I'm not going to go to sleep and not wake up for a long time any more, okay?"

"K."

Booth hugged Amanda and kissed the top of her head." How about I read to you for a little bit?"

"K."

Brennan got Amanda's blanket from the closet and covered her up before handing Booth the stack of books they kept in his room. Once Booth and Amanda were settled Brennan pulled out her laptop and started a new chapter.

**A/N: I know this chapter is super shot and you've been waiting forever for an update, but I am in the process of packing up my belongings and getting ready to move to another state… I don't have spare time to write right now. Hopefully within the next two months all the packing, moving and unpacking will be over and I can write some more. Hope you liked the chapter, whenever I have time the holidays are coming and Booth goes home for the day**


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Who wants some holiday fun in June?

It was November first, three weeks before Thanksgiving and Booth had just gotten himself in his wheelchair with minimal assistance from Nicole. "Good job Seeley. You know Thanksgiving is three weeks away-"

"Yeah, am I going to be able to go home?"

"Yes, but just for the day though. Doctor Brennan can pick you up at 10 in the morning and bring you back by 9 that night. You'll be taking your chair for long distances and getting into the house since you're still having problems with stairs. I talked to Doctor Brennan this morning and she's looking into having a portable ramp installed in the garage so you can get in and out without a problem." Nicole noticed the look of displeasure on Booth's face. "Seeley, I know the goal was for you to be fully mobile by the holidays, and you could very well be. You're endurance is going to take time to build back up. The ramp is temporary, as soon as your balance improves to you not falling going upstairs and are able to use a cane the ramp will be removed. You've come so far, four months ago we weren't sure you'd wake up in time for Thanksgiving let alone be able to spend it at home. You know I think after the New Year you'll be out of this place for good other than coming back for daily therapy. Tomorrow we'll work on getting you in and out of a car and we'll try the cane again. Your balance has gotten better since we tried it two weeks ago."

"Sounds good to me. I just want to go home."

"I know, soon."

Booth nodded and headed for his room.

Thanksgiving Day Brennan was up earlier than she'd be for work, but she didn't mind Booth was coming home to spend the holiday with her, Amanda, Parker, Jared, Padme and all the squints. Max was spending the holiday with Russ and his family in North Carolina, but had told Brennan he'd spend Christmas with her and Booth. Brennan poked her head in Amanda's room; the little girl was still sleeping. Brennan smiled and headed to the kitchen to begin preparations for dinner tonight. Once the pies were in the oven and the rolls were rising Brennan went upstairs and got Amanda up. The toddler whined and laid her head against Brennan's shoulder as she picked her up. Brennan rubbed her back. "I know its early baby girl, but I need to leave and pick up Daddy –"

Amanda lifted her head and looked around, "Daddy?"

"He's not here yet. I'm going to go get him as soon as Angela, Hodgins, and JJ get here to stay with you, okay?"

"K."

"Daddy is only staying until bedtime, and then I have to take him back to the hospital."

"No!"

"I know I don't want daddy to leave either, but he still needs to get better with Nicole and Katie's help. He'll be home with us all the time soon. Do you want to eat breakfast at the coffee table and watch TV?"

"Uh-huh." Brennan kissed the top of Amanda's head and headed downstairs. Ten minutes later Amanda was eating her cereal and watching the Disney channel while Brennan peeled boiled eggs.

Angela, Hodgins, and JJ arrived at 8:30 armed with casseroles. "Hi sweetie, how's Amanda?"

"She's good, she keeps asking every tem minutes when Booth's going to get here, that's why I don't tell her he was coming home until I got her up this morning. She doesn't want him to go back tonight, neither do I? I'm just thankful he's awake and can come home…."

"We all are sweetie. I brought the green bean casserole for Booth, that veggie rice one you like and the Jell-O fluff salad."

"Thanks. I don't have time to get all done and go get Booth."

"You're welcome sweetie. "

"Is JJ okay?"

Angela smiled and looked down, "yeah, he's just tired, he didn't sleep much last night."

Brennan smiled and knelt down, helping the three year old out of his jacket while Angela and Hodgins went to the kitchen. "JJ, Amanda is watching movies on the couch; do you want to go join her?"

Brennan got a sleepy nod as she picked JJ up and headed to the living room. Amanda looked up. "Daddy here?"

"Not yet baby I'm going to leave to get him in a few minutes."

"I come."

Brennan smiled as she tucked a throw blanket around JJ." You're going to stay here and watch TV with JJ. You both can go to sleep if you want."

"K."

Brennan lay Amanda at the other end of the couch and tucked the other end of the blanket around her. "I'll be back in a little while-"

"With daddy?"

"Yes, I'll be back in a little while with daddy. Love you, now go to sleep."

"K." Brennan smiled as Amanda's eyes drifted shut and then she kissed her forehead followed by JJ's. Straightening Brennan went to the kitchen, "The kids are both sound asleep. I should be back by 11."

"Take your time Bren. I'll work on dinner."

"Thanks Ange."

"You're welcome, now go and get Booth so Amanda doesn't have to wait any longer than necessary."

Brennan nodded and grabbed Booth's jacket, hat, and gloves before leaving.

Brennan found Booth ready to go and sitting in his wheelchair watching the parade. "Bones! You finally made it! Let's go!"

Brennan chuckled," Booth, it's only 10:06, it took a while to find a parking place. I had to park in back, in outpatient therapy parking. Amanda can't wait to see you, she wanted to come with me, but thankfully she and JJ fell asleep before I left. You need to bundle up its very cold out and we have a bit of walk to get to the car." Booth nodded and let Brennan help him with his jacket, hat, and gloves. Twenty minutes later Booth had gotten in the car with a little help from Brennan while Nicole stood by to help if needed. The ride seemed to take forever to Booth; Brennan pulled him out of his thoughts. "We'll be home soon Booth. Do you know where you are?"

"Kind of didn't we just go past the turn off for Rebecca's house?"

"Yes."

"Did she?"

"Yes, every time she brought Parker to see you before he left I'd take him and Amanda to the cafeteria for a snack while she talked to you, sometimes you'd squeeze her hand."

"Oh."

Thirty minutes later Brennan pulled into their garage, the first thing Booth noticed was that his SUV was gone and most of the stuff they had stored in it was moved out.

Brennan put her hand on his knee,"The SUV is at the Hoover, you'll get it back when you go back to work. Our stuff is in Hodgins ' storage barn, we really need to sort it before we move it back in here and see if we can't get rid of some of it." Booth nodded. Brennan leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting out and getting Booth's wheelchair and walker out of the trunk. Hodgins opened the door just as Brennan got Booth to the top of the ramp. "It's good to see you home G man."

"It's good to be home, even if it is just for the day, Hodgins." Brennan wheeled Booth into the kitchen and helped him with his coat, and then she wheeled him into the living room undetected by Angela, Amanda, and JJ.

"Daddy home yet?"

"I'm right here babying girl-"Amanda turned and ran to Booth."Daddy!" Hodgins scooped her up and put her in Booth's lap.

"Hi Amanda, are you happy to see me?"

"Yeah. Stay?"

"I can only stay until bedtime, but we'll have a lot of fun, okay?"

"K."

Brennan bent down, "Amanda, why don't you go wait with JJ while daddy gets out of the chair and sits on the couch." Amanda gripped Booth's neck tighter; he rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. "It's only for a few minutes, and then you can climb on me all you want."

"K." Booth kissed her cheek again and handed her to Hodgins. Brennan unfolded the walker and watched as Booth carefully walk to the couch and sit down. "All right Amanda daddy is all yours."

Hodgins put Amanda on the floor and watched as she ran to the couch and let Booth help her up onto it. "What do you want to do, baby girl?"

"Story?"

"Go pick out some books."

"K."

Amanda wiggled off the couch and went to Brennan who picked her up and headed upstairs to her bookcase. A few minutes later Brennan sat Amanda in Booth's lap with a half dozen books. Booth looked at JJ sitting on the floor, watching them. "Come on JJ, there is room." JJ looked at Angela who looked at Brennan. "Go on JJ." he smiled at Brennan and scrambled up on the couch. A half hour later Parker picked up JJ and sat down, snuggling into Booth's side. "Hi bub."

"Hi dad, mom's letting me stay till you go back."

"Okay, that's great." usually Rebecca only let Parker come over for dinner if that. Booth spent the remainder of the morning on the couch talking to whoever came by, Parker and Amanda never leaving his side. It was a late afternoon when Brennan walked over to the couch. "Dinner is ready. Parker, can you take Amanda to wash her hands and sit her in her seat?"

"Yeah, come on munchkin." Parker stood up and took Amanda from Booth's lap, heading for the bathroom.

"Booth, do you think you can sit in a dining room chair or do you want your wheelchair?"

"I think I'll be okay in a dining room chair."

Brennan nodded and out the walker in front of Booth watching him stands and starts to the dining room. After dinner Booth returned to the couch to watch football with Hodgins, Jarred and Parker, Amanda was curled in his lap. Angela came up beside Brennan and took the dirty pan from her hand. "Bren, go spend time with Booth. I'll clean up. Hodgins and jarred are asleep, Booth is playing chutes and ladders with the kids and Parker is playing his videogame. You know they'll start over so you can play."

Brennan smiled and handed Angela the sponge and headed to the couch where she picked up JJ and watched as the kids willingly started the game over so she could play. After they finished the game, watched a movie and had more dessert Brennan ran her fingers through Amanda's hair. "Come on Sweetheart, let's go get your PJs on then you can come say goodnight to daddy before he goes back to the hospital and you go to bed."

"No!" Amanda buried her head in Booth's shirt and dug her tiny nails into the skin of his arm. "Stay!"

"Baby girl, I wish I could, but I need to go back and get better so I can stay home with you, Parker and mommy all the time. You can come spend the day with me tomorrow, okay?"

"K."

"L loves you, baby girl." Booth tried to hand Amanda to Brennan, but the toddler still wouldn't let go of him. Brennan smiled, "Amanda, do you want daddy to put you in bed?" Amanda nodded.

"Bones I can't-"

"She can sleep on the foldout in your man cave for tonight." Booth nodded. "Go with mommy to get your PJs on and I'll tuck you in, okay?"

"K."

Brennan picked armada up and headed upstairs."Bren, I'll make up the foldout."

"Thanks Ange."

Ten minutes later Brennan handed a footy pajama cad Amanda to Booth and he sat on the edge of the foldout and tucked her in. "Goodnight baby girl, I love you."

"Love daddy."

"Good night sweetheart, I love you."

"Love mommy." Booth sat on the foldout and rubbed Amanda's back until she fell asleep then he carefully got up and he, Brennan and Parker were on their way to the rehabilitation center.

"This was the best thanksgiving I've had in a long time. The food was delicious, way better than the hospital. "

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Booth. I'll bring you leftovers tomorrow."

"Don't forget the pie."

"I wouldn't dare forget the pie. I hope Amanda sleeps all night; it's still hit and miss with her sleeping some nights. "

"She'll be fine."

Brennan and Parker stayed for a few minutes while Booth got settled in and then left, both promising to comeback in the morning.

A month later Booth was sitting in a kitchen chair watching Amanda makes a mess decorating cookies. "You're a mess Amanda!"

Amanda looked up and grinned before handing Booth the cookie she'd frosted on both sides. "Thanks, baby girl." Booth took a bite of the cookie and grinned at Brennan. "This is the best charismas Bones."

"I agree, though I wish you could stay longer than the rest of today and all of tomorrow."

"Me too, I will soon and then you'll get tired of me being home all the time."

"I'll never be tired of you being home all the time, Booth."

"'Me either Bones, me either. "

A/N2: I know I slighted the Christmas festivities, but I wanted to post something ASAP. I don't know when I'll have time to write again. I am finally moving next week! I am going to write' better circumstances' next I think, but when I get back to this Booth goes home for good!


End file.
